Darkness Falling
by jaderaid
Summary: During CoM. Companion to 'Darkness Rising'. When Riku killed his clone, the clone's heart returned to darkness. But contained within him was Zexion's power... .:SEE MY PROFILE FOR MORE INFORMATION:.
1. Introduction and Chapter I

**A/N: This is the companion story to _Darkness Rising_, another one of my fics. I know- for those of you who have read _"DR"_, the only thing these two have in common is the fact that Zexion is in both of them, but trust me; they're companions in that they both tie into the sequel, "_Night of a New Dawning"._ It's not necessary to read "_DR"_ to understand _Darkness Falling_ at all, but I would appreciate it if you'd take the time to read both. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It doesn't get much simpler than that. Oh, yes... and thanks to i AM the Random Idiot for naming Travis! The opening scene was inspired by Matthew Stover's "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" novelization of the movie. Matthew Stover roxas my soxas._

Darkness Falling

by Jade Rhade

_So this is where your heart goes. _

_You lay there alone in the dark for a thousand years, and then you finally open your mouth to speak. You don't know where you are; to you, all is starless night; words die unspoken on your lips before they have the chance to form. _

_They die before they have the chance to be revealed and live._

_Rather like you._

_An age passes there in the dark; you can remember how to blink though it makes no difference. There is nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard; there is nothing to be felt or tasted; the only sense you seem to possess is your sense of smell. Your nose is filled with the overpowering scent of the darkness holding you close in its loving embrace._

_You smother there for another five thousand years, until you remember a name; Riku. You try it on for size, yet it fits uncomfortably and you discard it._

_You remember another name; Zexion. This one fits better, but it still feels as though something is missing; as though Zexion is only a part of you, and your true name remains undiscovered just beneath the surface. _

_You remember how it was to die._

_After a hundred years, you hear a voice rise from the darkness and crash down upon your ears._

-xXx-

"Wake up, you." A booted foot jabbed hard into the boy's side, eliciting nothing more than a groan from the prone figure.

"Weakling!" The cloaked man delivered a harsh kick to the boy's kidneys. "Fake!" He drew his foot back for another vicious blow.

The boy rolled over and evaded the hit, catching the hooded man's foot and twisting him into the ground; though whether it could be consider a _ground_ at all was questionable. The boy rose to his feet and shakily surveyed his surroundings.

Night, as far as he could see. The surface on which he stood felt loose and grainy, almost the texture of what he imagined quicksand to be; it seemed as if one false step would send him plummeting forever. The boy turned in a circle to see in every direction until his gaze fell once again upon the cloaked man. "Who... are you?" he asked haltingly, still unfamiliar with this concept called 'speech'. "Where... am I?"

"You really don't remember," the cloaked man didn't sound surprised as he stood and threw back his hood that had been masking his face. "I should think that someone you _absorbed_ would leave a stronger impression."

"Absorbed?" the boy repeated, as if tasting the very word itself. He stared into the man's one visible eye, noting that his antagonist was little taller than he was; the other eye was hidden by his thick, indigo shaded hair hanging over it.

"In the most literal sense," the man replied.

"Zexion..." the name turned into a hiss, and unbidden, a weapon with a blade like the wing of a bat appeared in his hand. The boy regarded the sword for a moment, then held it in a guard position he didn't remember learning. "I killed you."

"Correction," Zexion held up a hand, seemingly unconcerned at the sudden emergence of the weapon. "You _absorbed_ me. Not the same as killing, I assure you."

The boy paused and looked down, silver hair falling over his cyan eyes. "I remember..." he said slowly. "Axel told me that I would become," the sword disappeared as his fists clenched and his eyes squeezed tightly shut as if to block out the memory, "a real person..." the boy finished in a hoarse whisper.

"A lie, of course," Zexion crossed his arms and looked off to the side. "The Flurry of Dancing Flames is quite good at manipulation, and you, desperately grasping at straws, accepted his words blindly without question.

The boy didn't answer, feeling his fingernails bite into his palms.

"So then you go and get yourself killed by Riku," Zexion continued without regard for the boy's feelings. "You were so confident now that you had stolen my power. Though that was indeed the case, you had no way of using it." The Cloaked Schemer adjusted the glove on his right hand. "So now both of us are in the realm of darkness where we belong," he added with an indifferent air, pulling the glove tight.

"So I guess my heart didn't disappear completely," the boy muttered. "If Real Thing's heart is going to the same place mine is like he said, then I suppose he'll be along eventually."

"Not even close." Zexion wiggled his fingers and made a fist. "Riku's not going to die any time soon. He defeated me, after all, and the rest of the Organization is barely up to my standard."

"I defeated you," the boy stated under his breath.

The Nobody looked at him with scorn. "Did you honestly think that I just _allowed_ you to beat me?"

"What do you mean?" the boy's cyan eyes narrowed.

"You did exactly what I wanted you to do." Zexion dropped down into an easy crouch, steepling his fingers and resting his chin upon them. "I wanted a heart," he said after a moment's pause. His tone was strangely musing. "I thought that perhaps I could take gain control of you from within, and somehow seize your heart for my own." He glanced up and met the boy's eyes. "I admit; it was foolish curiosity on my part, but after years of being the Organization's willing test subject, this was simply another blind leap forward in the pursuit of knowledge.

"However, I was not given the time to implement my theory, and now in hindsight, the gamble was quite hasty on my part. I should have killed you as soon as that damned traitor Axel had left the room, then returned in disgrace to report to the Superior." He voice remained simply musing, as if dispassionately narrating the story of another. "In any case, I did not, so now I am here."

"I thought when a Nobody died, they returned to darkness," he stated.

Zexion's eyebrow rose. "Indeed. You know more about us than I gave you credit for." He pointed to the boy. "You and I are connected. Your heart remained despite the darkness, so therefore, so did I."

"So we're both dead."

"Actually, I doubt it." Zexion sat down cross-legged.

"You'll have to explain that one to me."

He sighed and rested his chin upon steepled fingers again. "You absorbed my power, so I became a part of you. Therefore, when you died, you faded into darkness like a Nobody; however, your human heart remained strong, preserving us here. My power will allow you to use the darkness without fear of loosing your heart completely, Riku."

The boy's head snapped up, fury glinting through his cyan eyes. "Don't call me by that name," he growled. "I am not him."

Zexion paused, then nodded slowly. "Even your very name is only borrowed. Your appearance, your speech, your memories and your awareness... the very things that define a human are naught but copied data. Even you heart is not but a replica."

"I didn't ask for this life." The Riku Replica fell to the soft ground and sat across from the Nobody. "I didn't ask to be created in his image."

"None of us get a choice in whom we shall be. All that can be truly chosen by us is what we will become." Zexion reflected upon his words and chuckled softly. "I seem to have become rather philosophical in my new half-life," he murmured to himself. He glanced with one bright eye at the clone of the boy known as Riku. "If you truly want to become your own person, you must stop living in his shadow."

The clone looked bleakly down at his hands. "How?" he asked hollowly. "You said it yourself; all I am is borrowed data. I can't have a life for my own while Real Thing is alive."

"First, you need to stop thinking of yourself as just a copy." Zexion studied the boy's face. "You need a name."

"Oh, well, that's easy," he retorted sarcastically. "I've got several lined up; Clone, Facsimile, Doppelganger," he counted off on his fingers, pausing to take a breath. "Fake, Copy, Replica, Simulacrum, Abomination, Travesty-"

"Travis," Zexion interrupted, raising a hand to stop him. "Your name will be Travis." He nodded once as if that settled things.

"You can't just name me like I'm some kind of pet!" the clone of Riku protested. "You don't _own_ me!" He paused and thought about it. "Travis," he repeated slowly. Somehow the name didn't seem foreign, settling down upon his shoulders like a well-worn mantle. He met Zexion's gaze and returned the nod. "Heh. It'll do."

The two sat there in silence; the Nobody patiently waiting for the newly named Travis to organize the memories of his short life into coherent order. Finally, he looked to Zexion. "Number Six, the Cloaked Schemer. Why are you here helping me? If we are not dead as you claim, logically we should be able to leave this place through portals of darkness."

"You think I have not tried that?" Zexion sighed. "We are connected. Where you go, I have to follow."

"You forgive me if I don't take your word on that," Travis replied, standing and opening a portal of darkness for himself. He took on step forward and cried out in pain, falling to his knees and clutching his chest. He stumbled backward, falling to the ground with a pained gasp. "My... heart!" he managed. "It feels like it's going to explode!"

Across from his, Zexion was on his hands and knees. "I told you," he wheezed, hand pressed against his heart. _"I told you."_ He coughed violently and sat back, massaging his chest. "Neither of us... are strong enough... to live without... the other."

Travis nodded quickly, fist tight against his own chest trying to calm his frantically beating heart. "At least... not yet." He looked to Zexion. "If we leave... together, will we still be... separate?"

"Doubt it." The portal of darkness remained as though mocking them with the promise of escape. "I'll most likely... be absorbed... into you again." Zexion took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Don't _ever_ do something like that again."

"No problem," Travis replied, flicking his silver hair over his shoulder and levering himself off the ground. "We'll go together." He offered the Nobody his hand.

Zexion's gaze darted between the boy's outstretched hand and his cyan eyes. "You should hate me for all I've done to you."

"We're stuck with each other, right?" Travis shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "Until we get stronger, we'll have to spend all our time together. We can go back to hating each other once we can go our separate ways." He extended his hand again. "Truce?"

A small, genuine smile flicked across Zexion's face for the briefest of seconds, and then he reached up and allowed Travis to pull him to his feet. "Truce," he conceded.

"I still hate you, you know," the clone remarked as the two entered the portal.

"Good, because I still hate you."

Travis smiled wryly. "Then we have something in common. By definition, that should make us friends."

-xXx-

He emerged from the portal and abruptly covered his eyes with his arm, cursing. "Zexion, what that hell-?"

_"That would be the sun."_

"Can't you turn it off?"

"_No, I'm afraid that it's a bit too far away."_ Zexion sounded amused. _"Hurts, doesn't it? Being exposed to the light after spending your entire life in darkness."_

Travis gingerly peeked over his raised arm, blinking tears from his cyan eyes. What he saw left him speechless. He stood alone on a beach, waves gently rising the clinging tendrils of darkness from his black boots. A balmy breeze blew his silver hair across his face; his _kama_ drifted gently behind him. The soft light of the sun warmed his face as he stared out over the ocean. He looked from side to side, searching for the Nobody whose voice he could clearly hear. "Zexion?" Travis turned in a complete circle. Beach, town, more beach, ocean; no Zexion. "Where are you?"

"_Here. You absorbed me, remember?" _He sighed dramatically. _"I am now naught but a voice-"_

"Oh, can it." Travis impatiently turned back to the town he had seen not too far away. "So where are we?"

Zexion chuckled softly. _"Of all the worlds you could have randomly chosen, we end up here. I think this is what they call irony."_

"What do you mean?"

"_This is Riku's homeworld,"_ Zexion said wryly. _"Welcome to the Destiny Islands."_

"Huh. So now what?" Ever practical, Travis began to plan his next move; Zexion being Zexion, he had already prepared several contingencies already.

"_We'll stay on this word for a few days to establish our presence, then move on. We'll be safe from retribution for a while, as the Organization is doubtless going to be in need of, pardon the pun, reorganization,"_ he explained._ "Most likely those still remaining in Castle Oblivion have been slain, and it will take the Superior some time to restructure our Organization. Then he will send Trackers after us- more specifically, me. I'll have to gain the necessary strength quickly-"_ he paused. _"Are you even listening to me?"_

"Uh, Zexion...?" Travis sounded alarmed. "Who is that, and why is she staring at me?" His cyan eyes were wide with suspicion as he stared blatantly back at the auburn-haired girl. "She looks vaguely familiar."

_"Oh dear..."_

"Riku!" the girl shouted, a wide smile crossing her face. She dropped her purse to the sand and ran toward him.

Travis took a step backward, panic crossing his face, but she stopped short and gazed up into his face. Confused, he looked back, his eyes roving her body; plausibly searching for any concealed weapons. She was wearing a school uniform with the sleeves rolled up and the skirt far too short to hide any form of weapon. His attention was directed back to her large blue eyes as she spoke.

"Riku..." she stood on tiptoes to meet his eye-level. "You... you're home?" She sounded almost bewildered. "It's really you?"

"Uh... yeah," he agreed as it suddenly clicked; Kairi, one of Real Thing's best friends. "Who else could I be?" he added as a precaution.

"So... you escaped from the darkness okay?"

He nodded uncertainly, and she lunged forward, almost knocking him back into the ocean. "Ahh!" She had his arms pinned so he couldn't summon Soul Eater, what was she-

Kairi giggled, wrapping him firmly in a hug. "I'm glad you're back, Riku." She buried her face in his chest. "You've finally come home."

"Uh... yeah," Travis repeated, awkwardly returning her embrace. He closed his eyes and rested his chin atop her hair. "I'm home," he whispered.

**A/N: For lack of a better word, I've adopted the word _kama_ to describe the half-skirt worn by the Riku Replica. It's the word used to describe the half-skirt worn by the clone troopers in _Star Wars_, and I thought the description apropos. Let's see how many times I can use variations of the word 'describe' in a single paragraph. :P**

**If you review, I'll reply because I figure if you've taken the time to read this and comment on it, the least I can do is respond. Hopefully I'll be able to follow my Monday updates like I have with _Darkness Rising_, but no promises. ****I may have to resort to Wednesday uploads, but... we'll see. I hate to do this, but if you read without reviewing, and I don't get any reviews, this won't be continued because I'll assume that no one likes it. Sorry, but it must be said.**


	2. Chapter II

**A/N: In case it's not clear, anything italicized and in quotation marks is Zexion speaking. Btw, I've completed "Darkness Rising"... those who've read that will recognize some of the phrasing Zexion uses in this chapter from Chapter V of "DR".**

**And yes, I KNOW I said that I'd try to stick to my Monday uploads, but already I've become sidetracked, and I apologize profusely. As I said in the final chapter of "Darkness Rising", my new semester started; the teachers always load us with work in the first couple of weeks to see who'll drop the class, then it eases up a bit. But hey- I'm only two days late! And this chapter took a lot of work, because I had to try to think like a scientist and put myself into Zexion's head- it's _very_ screwed up in there, believe you me!**

**Thanks to **_i AM the Random Idiot_** for beta-ing. I've decided that I should give her credit at the beginning of every chapter (when I remember to), as she is the biggest influence on my writing. Not to mention she is my hero- seriously! We had to say who our hero was in English Lit. class (I know, how third grade does that sound?), and **_iAtRI_** was mine. **_iAtRI_**: if you're reading this before I got the chance to call you, yeah... this is my embarrassing moment for the day.**

**Thanks to (in no particular order): **_kai-frost, cheeky doggie, iAtRI, NinjaMatty, LittleBrick, Riderazzo, MyinnerMilo, The Silver Suzi, EliasDaemonwing,_** and**_ Taora _**for reviewing, favorite-ing, or putting this on alert! Again, if you review, I'll take the time to reply because you guys are just that cool! (And I get to procrastinate! YAY PROCRASTINATION!) **

**EDIT!!!: I had to go back and fix this; I only noticed it after it had been uploaded and reviewed by three people: some of Zeixon's liones had mysteriously lost their formatting and went from being italized to... not. Hopefully this should fix that.**

**Anyhow, on to:**

Chapter II

"Travis, you are indeed smarter than I gave you credit for."

Zexion sounded pleased. _"You were able to fool one of Riku's best friends into believing that you are Riku. We shall remain on this world for about three days to establish my presence, then move on."_

"Huh," Travis grunted noncommittally, adjusting a strap on his boot. After he had told Kairi that some of his memories were fuzzy after spending so much time in darkness, she had shown him around town. Rather than taking him to his own house, Kairi had set him up in one of the guestrooms in her house, claiming that he shouldn't see his parents until his memory improved; Travis had had no problem with that. He glanced out the window to see the sun casting a rosy red glow across the ocean as it slowly began to dip below the horizon.

Zexion was still talking. _"Yes, three days should be sufficient to establish my presence on this world so to lure the Trackers here."_

"What?" the clone frowned. "What Trackers?"

"_A type of Nobody modified by Vexen and myself," _he answered. _"A variation of the normal Dusk, they were created specifically to seek out strong presences of darkness; such as that generated by a Nobody, for example. A creature of darkness leaves a footprint of sorts as it moves; that is how a denizen of darkness is able to 'smell' the presence of darkness. We simply altered the genome to make that trait more prominent."_

"No, I meant, who's sending the Trackers?" Travis leaned down and started to un-strap his black boots. "The Organization has to think that we're dead."

Somehow he felt Zexion shake his head. _"No. There's a room in our main headquarters called the Proof of Existence. In that room there are thirteen panels; they glow green while our darkness footprints can still be detected. Therefore, while I exist, that panel will glow green." _His tone turned thoughtful_. "However, I believe that there's a way to tamper with that panel so it will stop detecting my presence; perhaps reset it to read the presence of one of my comrades that are confirmed dead. Once we are able to separate, I will travel to the Castle That Never Was to deactivate that panel; that's the only way to keep our continuing existence a secret." _

"And where will you go with your new life?" Travis asked, kicking his boots under the bed and pulling his feet up to sit cross-legged.

"_That's need-to-know information_," Zexion responded coldly. _"Never forget, while I still exist inside of you, _I_ am the one in control."_

Travis felt his mouth sour at the Nobody's last statement. "So how long until can we go our separate ways?"

"_Not soon enough,"_ he echoed the clone's own thoughts. _"The panel in Proof of Existence won't be tampered with on its own."_ Zexion paused. _"And what will you do?"_ he asked.

"That's need-to-know information," Travis mocked the Nobody's earlier phrase. "And you don't need to know."

"_Actually, I do." _The Nobody sounded almost smug. _"You have no idea how normal human life works, do you? The memories Naminé implanted into you have begun to fade, and you don't know why."_

His eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

_"I'm part of you, remember? I've also worked with Vexen, and I know his methods. Did you think you were the first clone to be created at our hands?"_

Travis breathed in sharply. "There's more like me?"

_"Not 'like you'; they were crude, always with the same basic flaw, and little to no mental capacity. The original reason we, Vexen in particular, became interested in cloning was that we thought perhaps we could clone ourselves new hearts; unfortunately, these attempts failed quite spectacularly. One can reproduce a biological heart, but never the emotions and memories and feelings associated with it. Hence the flaw inherent in you."_

He tensed. "What do you mean, 'flaw'?"

_"Your heart is incomplete; you are not much better off than us Nobodies, except in the fact that your mind refuses to accept that and still projects these feeble emotions. The false memories Naminé created don't belong in your heart, so it is slowly rejecting the information that it can't process. Also, the fact that you are now having new memories is re-writing the false ones, speeding up this process."_

"So you're saying that eventually all my memories will fade?" He narrowed his eyes unhappily.

_"Only the ones that don't belong to you; anything you've experienced for yourself will remain in your flawed heart. And for you to keep up this pretense to being Riku, you will need someone to explain how human life works. That's why I need to know what your plans are. Never forget that I am the one in control."_

"Yes, you've made your point, I heard you the first time!" Travis snapped. "What is the flaw in my heart? And use terms I can understand!"

Zexion sighed. _"There can never be a precise copy of a heart created; it is simply impossible for them to coexist. There is a failsafe of sorts to prevent that, and any heart created will be flawed in some irreparable way; that is why all of our earlier experiments in cloning failed. The flaw is-"_ He trailed off._ "Silence! Someone is coming."_

"Riku!" came a hiss through the door. "Riku, I'm coming in now, so if you're doing anything embarrassing, please stop!"

_"She certainly has a way with words,"_ Zexion remarked dryly as the door swung open and Kairi slipped into the room.

Travis ignored him, watching her suspiciously as she shut the door behind her with a soft click. "What is it?" he asked.

Kairi tossed him a small brown paper bag. "Dinner," she laughed as he tore it open hungrily. She moved across the room and sat down beside him on the bed. "Riku?"

"Mmph?" he responded through a mouthful of food.

_"Chew your food before opening your mouth to speak!"_ Zexion ordered with exasperation evident in his tone. _"I realize that this is your first meal in your entire life, but Vexen must have bred some decency in you."_

"Riku..." Kairi continued. "Where's Sora?"

Travis choked and coughed. "What?" he managed.

She looked at him earnestly. "Where's Sora? Why didn't he come back with you? Have you seen him since you escaped? And how did you get out of the darkness?" Kairi edged closer with every question until she was practically on top of him. "Tell me everything."

Travis shoved a piece of bread into his mouth to give him time to think.

_"Just make something up,"_ Zexion advised. _"In three days at the most, you won't ever have to see her again."_

He frowned at that, but nodded, swallowing. "Well, I don't remember a lot from when I was lost in the darkness," he started between mouthfuls, making it all up spur-of-the-moment. "I don't even know how long I was there. All I remember is a long stretch of nothing, then some kind of portal or door or... some such that seemed to be made of..." he used the time chewing to think of something, "pure light.

"I ended up in this place called Castle Oblivion," Travis continued his improvisation. "From there, I... made my way here," he ended lamely. "There's not much to say... the castle was deserted. I haven't seen Sora," he added honestly, almost as an afterthought. "I have no idea where he could be."

"He's looking for you, you know," Kairi told him.

His head shot up. "Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because you're his friend," she answered simply.

Travis didn't reply to that, looking down at the roll he had clenched in his fist. "Right," he finally said, the barest hint of bitterness lacing his voice. "Friend."

Kairi gazed at him thoughtfully. "You've changed, Riku," she observed.

He felt a spike of fear run through him; she suspected-! "What do you mean?" he asked warily.

"You just seem... I don't know." She bit her lip and smoothed down her short pink skirt. "You're... distant, for lack of a better word."

Travis grimaced. "Sorry," he muttered, not really knowing why he felt the need to apologize.

She shrugged and suddenly grinned. "And what's with the skirt?"

He bristled. "It's not a skirt!" Travis crossed his arms, fairly pouting. "It's a kama!" He could hear Zexion laughing at him in the back of his mind, a low, surprisingly mellow chuckle; the Nobody had taunted him earlier about his kama.

Kairi laughed and poked his shoulder. "Call it what you want, it still looks like a skirt."

"It does not!" he protested, lips unconsciously twisting into a full-fledged pout.

She laughed again, and to his surprise, he found himself laughing with her; he didn't know why. It just felt good. This was not the mocking laughter that he was accustomed to, and he paused, disturbed. "Kairi?" he said finally. "Are you... my friend?" Travis didn't know why he was waiting so anxiously for her answer.

"Of course!" Kairi gave him a light punch on the shoulder.

A sudden grin crossed his face; he had never had a friend before! But then her next words, spoken so lightly and innocently, completely crushed him.

"Of course you're my friend," she repeated. "You're Riku."

The tentative hope that had been building in his heart was ground to dust, but the only outward sign was his face falling. "Right."

A should from below interrupted the two of them- well, three of them, technically. "Kairi?" a male voice called. "Kairi!"

"Coming, Father!" she yelled back. "My adopted father, the mayor," Kairi explained, seeing Travis's blank expression. "I have to go down there before he realizes that you're here; he'll raise all kinds of questions that I don't think you have an answer for right now." She jumped down form the bed and skipped to the door, stopping with her hand on the knob. "If I don't come back before morning, have a good night."

"Good night," Travis answered as she slipped outside, "...Kairi." Once the door was closed, he sighed dejectedly and stared out the window.

_"That went well,"_ Zexion observed.

"Heh." Travis laughed bitterly, tearing a chunk from his almost forgotten bread roll, scattering crumbs across the sheets. "Everywhere I turn on this world, I'm reminded that I'm only an imitation."

_"Stop feeling sorry for yourself,"_ the Nobody's tone was harsh. _"You at least have a heart with which to feel loneliness and despair. Pull yourself together, Travis!"_

The clone was somewhat taken aback by the heat of his tone. "And what's your problem?" he retorted quickly, resorting to sarcasm as his only means of defense. "Is this where you start crying 'oh-woe-is-me, I-have-no-heart'?"

_"No. I've accepted what I am; yet I still work toward my ultimate goal. These petty yearnings for a so-called 'normal' life are analyzed for possible use, then discarded."_ Zexion's voice had returned to its customary soft pitch. _"You need to learn to do the same; unless, if this normal life is what you truly desire, you must go after it and hold nothing back."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" Travis found himself asking, unwillingly curious.

He felt more than heard Zexion's sigh. _"The phrase 'to lose one's heart' is not quite true. Though darkness does indeed consume the heart, creating what is so crudely referred to as the 'Heartless', when the empty shell of the body is left behind, some small, imprecise fragments are left behind, disjointed and disconnected. These fragments linger because the loss of a heart is very unscientific; though you indeed consume the bread, crumbs yet remain."_ He sighed again. _"You're making a mess."_

Travis frowned and swept the crumbs from his dinner into a small garbage can beside the bed. "What do your metaphors have to do with me?"

_"I'm not finished,"_ he replied testily. _"These pieces that are left behind can be bound together by a strong will; though not strong enough to truly 'feel', there is nonetheless still a heart, and thus, the Nobody is created. Had we not any hearts at all, it would be biologically impossible for one such as myself to survive. We as Nobodies still possess the very basest emotions; the simple, uncomplicated, instinctual emotions that originate in the body itself, not the heart, such as fear and lust. What we can feel also depends on the memories that are retained. You are similar to this._

_"You ask how your cloned heart can be flawed; as I said before, there cannot exist two exact copies of one heart. Your heart is created from cast-off pieces of other hearts, and one day your will won't be strong enough to hold those fragments together, and you will die."_

"Cheery," Travis muttered under his breath.

_"Therefore, similar to a Nobody, you must be prepared to commit everything to your ultimate goal; if your will weakens at any time, you will die, and it will most likely be quite spectacular."_

"And what if I don't have an ultimate goal?" Travis laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do with my life. All I've ever known is deception, sadism, and betrayal." He snorted self-depreciatingly. "My memories have been rewritten so many times, I'm left to assume that this is even my own will anymore."

_"Though you are indeed a copy, there is one thing that can never be duplicated, and that is the soul,"_ Zexion told him. _"Even if your memories have been tampered with, nothing can ever change the soul. Remember that."_

"Heh," Travis grunted, throwing his arm over his eyes to block out the fading rays of the sun. "Whatever." Mercifully, the Nobody was silent as the clone lost himself in thought.

"Maybe I will take over his life," he decided finally. "This seems like a nice enough world."

_"Not to mention the attractive female you've become acquainted with."_

"Not to mention." Travis ground his teeth together but didn't attempt to deny it. "It's just... I've never met anyone like her," he admitted softly, getting up and gazing out the window, over the rooftops of the houses of the town to the sun dipping slowly below the horizon. "She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He shook his head abruptly and yanked the curtains shut with a definitive air. "Well, we'll see in the morning," he stated, shutting off the small electric light on the nightstand and throwing himself down on the bed.

"We'll see in the morning," he repeated in a whisper.

**A/N: Again, I apologize for not uploading when I said I would! I can't even provide a preview, since I haven't typed up Chapter III yet! I'm saw-reee! _:ducks rotten Paopu fruit thrown by angry reviewers:_**

**Oh yes, and I'm one of the HUGEST SoKai fans there are, so this will NOT be a Travis/Kairi... sorry iAtRI (it's a tad one-sided on Travis's part, so I hope that'll make you happy!). Unfortunately, it cannot be a SoKai either, as Sora is doing whatever it is he was doing in CoM at this time... Marly's not dead yet, right? Or his he...? Heh, I have no idea! Let's say this takes place about the same time as things are wrapping up in Castle Oblivion. Let's say that this is about when... hmm... when Sora's getting put into his long sleepy-time in the hibernation capsule. And what's Riku doing? Heh, like I know! (I'll have a clearer idea by the time _Re: Chain of Memories_ comes out and I can watch the cutscenes online in Japanese. (SO EXCITED!) Even though I can't speak but about 3 words of Japanese... STILL! ZEXION AND TRAVIS IN 3-D! SQUEE!) All I know is that this is LONG before Riku kidnaps Roxas. (Everything is timelined according to where Roxas is... I LOVE THE ROXAS-MAN! WHEE! I knew I shouldn't have had those two chocolate-peanut-butter Girl Scout cookies... BUT THEY'RE YUMMY! See, randomness run!)**

**Hopefully I'll see everyone in a review, and if not, I'll hopefully have chap3 uploaded next Monday! (Wednesday again at the latest, I think.) Cheers! Oh yes: confused? Drop me a PM! (or a review, hint hint!)**


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